US SEC taps IPO legal guru for Corporation Finance unit

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton unveiled his first major personnel decision on Tuesday, saying he had hired an attorney who worked on prominent initial public offerings to lead the SEC’s division that oversees public company filings.

The SEC said that William Hinman, a retired partner at the Silicon Valley office of the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, will serve as director of the Division of Corporation Finance.

According to his old law firm biography, Hinman worked on many high-profile IPOs, including those of Facebook, Google and Alibaba - an IPO that Clayton also worked on while he was a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell.